Bertie Ahern has been asked to re-route the M3 motorway away from the Hill of Tara as one of his last acts in office.
A petition containing almost 40,000 names was handed into the Department of the Taoiseach which urged him to reconsider the route of the Co Meath motorway which, it is claimed, could destroy heritage.
Source: TaraWatch
When it comes to the Irish language there really are some insecure B.S. artists out there! I recently had the misfortune of having a conversation with an old-school Irish speaker – Correct grammar was all important and the occasional English word thrown in was a cardinal sin… the “proper use of Irish” or not-at-all approach was more important than the “every-day” speaking and growth of the Irish language. Pride coming before a fall. As many, the only hope of recovering my Irish language roots is through the occasional interjection of English words. I come from the school of thought that says: the purpose of language is to communicate… not to promote elitism at the cost of a culture.
Don’t get me wrong – I truly believe that proper grammar and all the trimmings of correct language usage are something to be aspired to – and those great in the technical application of a language should be respected and not feared… but respect is earned, not taken, especially, by putting down beginners who are striving to learn. Once you have acquired a high standard of usage of a language it’s easy to look down on those who are not quite to your standard, but that’s just insecurity dressed up as pomp! I want Irish to retake its place in our culture (it’s a unique, beautiful and expressive language) and I want to learn it, without the rebuke of those who are better in its usage than me! When I encounter fluent Irish speakers use the occasional English word as is the modern trend, I feel more at ease and inspired… old ideas get buried with the past and I really want to see the Irish language grow, not wither, because of stick-in-the-mud ideals – If people are passionate about using a language, they will naturally seek the correct grammar.
I had only one response for my elitist companion… I can find more people who fear speaking the language because of people with his idea of “Irish” – than he can fluent speakers. Sadly! Needless to say, there are those who will not change and if the Irish language fades, I hope it will not be because of my fear of people like that… I intend to continue my rediscovery of the Irish language… and little by little, get better at its proper usage – and who knows, one day…!
It took me a little while to take to RTE’s “In the Name of the Fada” which sees American comedian Des Bishop in a bid to become a fluent Irish speaker. Last nights show, featured him returning to America to see what the reactions to his new found language would be… Following the show I was filled with several emotions. I felt hope for the language but most of all I felt ashamed… ashamed of myself. You see, my school days, tried to knock out of me, any passion I would have had for the Irish language. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a love of the language and while I would understand a good bit of Irish, I feel my standard is not what it should be! I can comfortably listen to Irish conversations and follow what’s being said, when I try to speak ‘as Gaeilge’ I clam up and become tongue-tied… Something I’ve never overcome.
What struck me most about Des Bishops visit to America was one particular Korean gentleman he met on his journey. It was amazing: The man in question, who had never been to Ireland, was conversing in fluent Irish. It put me in mind of a recent post on Maria Horan in which she discusses the future of Irish and foreign speakers of the language. The Korean man was case-in-point! I was filled with great pride also… just to see the reach our wondeful language has and the effect it has on people!
Like so many people I have allowed my own personal history to impede my ability to speak what is my ‘native tongue’ – something I am ashamed of… Something that I intend to change! I now intend to begin my own journey to recapture my ability to speak ‘as Gaeilge’… and be proud of the heritage as oppossed to afraid!
More Than Scratch The Suface is a really informative site by Stephin Cronin for bloggers of all levels… some nice pluggins available too!
Maria Horan offers an interesting perspective on the state of the Irish language.
And MacKozer’s Irish diary takes a look at Ireland from a Polish Perspective.
More fascinating discussions on cearta.ie.
Conor McCabe of Dublin Opinion offers this wonderful short film:
And check out this youtube… Is this really what Hillary’s campaign needs right now? It’s not the best song… but not the worst either!!!
Win an Apple iPod Music player: “Safer Driving” Competition… On the other Blog I write (in the interest of honesty)!
Tom Raftery asks “Why Blog?” the IWTC conference.
Lifehacker gives the lowdown on open source application GmailAssistant which monitors multiple Gmail accounts and alerts you of new mail.
Corrupt Éire on a place of utter beauty: “… If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from prehistoric times up to historic times, up to completely recently – it was Tara.”
This week an Irish Post poll showed more than 80 per cent of respondents were in favour of halting all construction of new roads around the historic site. In one of the largest responses ever received more than 3,000 people took part. That opposition has been mirrored in previous petitions and online message boards opposing routing a motorway past this historic archaeological treasure.
Against this background the Government’s intransigence smacks of nothing more than sheer bloody-mindedness. It seems Ministers are determined not to be seen admitting they made a mistake. But there is little doubt that the route chosen for the new M3 motorway is a mistake of colossal proportions. It is akin to Britain’s Department of Transport deciding to re-route the M4 motorway so it passed close to the world famous stone circle at Avebury. To make matters worse the Irish Government could have easily ordered the route of the M3 to be altered to ensure it avoided the Hill of Tara but chose not to do so. Instead they decided it was worth risking the destruction of one of the world’s most important archaeological sites for the sake of so-called progress.
Source: Tara Watch
Lá Nua, the Irish language newspaper is under threat of closure after having been published for more than twenty years. This would come as yet another loss to Irish heritage… It seems that in a time when the Irish are being asked to embrace an influx of different cultures into Ireland, we are slowly losing touch with our own. Below is a worthwhile link, to a petition to Foras na Gaeilge, the cross-border Irish language body, to support Lá Nua, the Irish language daily newspaper, to ensure its survival and to put a proper basis under the future development of the Irish language print journalism.
Tar i gcabhair ar Lá Nua/Support Lá Nua
